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Friday, December 5, 2008
… and don’t even THINK about singing ‘New York, New York’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
As we slide into the weekend, a little off-topic story from The Guardian to send you along your way:
“A Malaysian karaoke enthusiast hogged the microphone for so long that people set upon him and stabbed him to death.
Abdul Sani Doli refused to hand over the microphone at a coffee shop that doubles as a karaoke bar in the town of Sandakan, Borneo. Two men have been arrested on suspicion of murder after the altercation erupted a few minutes before midnight.
The town’s police chief, Rosli Mohammad Isa, said initial investigations showed the victim had sung several numbers on Wednesday night. Other patrons fumed as Abdul Sani hogged the microphone, a scenario perhaps familiar to karaoke devotees the world over.
Karaoke rage is not unheard of in Asia. There have been several reported cases of singers being assaulted, shot or stabbed mid-performance, usually over how songs are sung.
Frank Sinatra’s “My Way” has reportedly generated such outbursts of hostility that some bars in the Philippines now no longer offer it on the karaoke menu. In Thailand this year, a gunman shot eight people dead after tiring of their endless renditions of a John Denver tune.”
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Another Senator Kennedy?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
“The crazy speculation about Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat may not be so crazy after all. A Democrat who would know tells ABC News that New York governor David Paterson has talked to Caroline Kennedy about taking the seat, which was once held by her uncle, Robert F. Kennedy. It’s not exactly shocking that Paterson would reach out to one of the most highly respected public figures in New York, but this is: Sources say Kennedy is considering it, and has not ruled out coming to Washington to replace Hillary Clinton in the Senate.
A few years ago, the famously private Caroline Kennedy would be the last Kennedy expected to serve in Congress, but of course, she took on a much more high-profile role during the presidential campaign and, if she does it, would be more than New York’s junior Senator; she’d have closer ties to the Obama White House than any of her colleagues, a direct line to the East Wing.
When Robert Kennedy, Jr. took himself out of the running for the seat earlier this week, he told Jonathan Hicks of the New York Times, “Caroline Kennedy would be the perfect choice if she would agree to it.” And one more thing: We hear that President-elect Obama has made it clear that he thinks Caroline Kennedy would be a great choice.”
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New jobless numbers frightening
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Ooooh boy.
It seems there are two categories of working-age Americans: Those without jobs, and those worried about being without a job.
From the Washington Post:
“U.S. employers shed more than half a million jobs in November, accelerating a steady decline in the labor market with the worst monthly showing in 34 years.
The unemployment rate rose from 6.5 percent to 6.7 percent, the highest rate since the recession of the early 1990s. The figure was tempered by the fact that 422,000 workers left the labor market, likely discouraged by their inability to find a job. The unemployment rate only includes people actively looking for work.
The latest jobs report “is bad news. No matter how you look at it is really, really bad news,” former Treasury Secretary John Snow said this morning on the CNBC cable television network.
Some 2.7 million jobs now have been eliminated since the economy moved into recession a year ago — nearly 1.3 million of them in the last three months, following Labor Department revisions that showed even steeper employment losses in September and October than initially reported.
Currently more than 10.3 million people are out of work, the Labor Department said.”
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Telling the Bair truth at FDIC
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sheila Bair, a Bush appointee as head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp, has been one of the few Washington figures ahead of the game on the housing crisis. To her credit, she has also been willing to speak out publicly in favor of tougher restrictions in the Wall Street bailout, and has been an early champion of an aggressive federal effort to help struggling homeowners, not just big financial firms.
Others, including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke, are now belatedly coming around to her point of view.
But according to Bloomberg, that candor has made Bair some enemies. They report that Timothy Geithner, President-elect Obama’s choice for Treasury secretary, is trying to push Bair out of office because she’s a little too independent for his taste.
Too bad, Timmy. Bair must stay.
The American people already fear that the taxpayers’ $700 billion Wall Street bailout is being run by Wall Street insiders for the benefit of other Wall Street insiders, even though Wall Street is responsible for a lot of this mess. Dumping Bair, one of the few influential voices who has dared to challenge that little Wall Street club, would send exactly the wrong message.
On a side note, Bair also came out Thursday to make clear that the Community Reinvestment Act, the conservatives’ favorite villain, had little or nothing to do with creating the housing crisis.
““I want to give you my verdict on CRA: NOT guilty,” Bair said Thursday.
“Point in fact, only one in four higher-priced first mortgage loans were made by CRA-covered banks during the hey-day years of subprime mortgage lending. The rest were made by private independent mortgage companies and large bank affiliates not covered by CRA rules.”
“Let me ask you,” she proceeded. “Where in the CRA does it say to make loans to people who can’t afford to repay? Nowhere.” The facts are simple, Bair said. The lending practices that are causing problems today were driven by a desire for more market share and revenue growth, not because the government encouraged certain lending practices.
John Dugan, another Republican and a Bush appointee as comptroller of the currency, agrees with Bair. “CRA is not the culprit behind the subprime mortgage lending abuses, or the broader credit quality issues in the market place,” he said in a recent speech.
Dugan and Bair are far from alone. Housing and financial experts agree almost unanimously that CRA is not at fault. In fact, it’s hard to find anybody with any credentials in that field who blames CRA. The only people making that argument are politicians, for political reasons.
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